Molecular mechanism for the production of multiple form of MM creatine kinase

Summary Incubation of human, canine or rabbit MM creatine kinase with carboxypeptidase-N or B resulted in the production of 2 additional enzyme forms with increased anodal migration on polyacrylamide gels. The C-terminal amino acid of tissue MM creatine kinase from all 3 species was shown to be lysine, a specific substrate for carboxypeptidase-N and B.     

Structure and function of a calmodulin-dependent smooth muscle myosin light chain kinase

Summary In smooth muscle the M_r 20,000 light chain of myosin is phosphorylated by a calmodulin-dependent protein kinase. It consists of 2 subunits: calmodulin, an acidic protein of M_r 17,000 that binds 4 moles of Ca²⁺; and a larger protein of M_r circa 130,000. Activation of the kinase is dependent upon their association in the presence of Ca²⁺. Cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase phosphorylation of the myosin light chain kinase occurs at 2 sites. It decreases the affinity of the kinase for calmodulin and a reduction in the rate of light chain phosphorylation occurs. The kinase has an overall asymmetric shape composed of a globular head and tail region for the skeletal muscle enzyme. Trypsin digestion of this kinase releases a fragment of M_r 36,000 from the globular region that contains the catalytic and calmodulin binding sites. Chymotrypsin digestion of the kinase from smooth muscle generates a fragment of M_r 80,000 that does not contain the calmodulin binding or cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase phosphorylation sites. It is a Ca²⁺-independent form of the kinase that phosphorylates the light chain of myosin. These structural features indicate a regulatory role for the kinase in smooth muscle phosphorylation and contraction.     

The phorbol ester TPA induces metamorphosis in Red Sea coral planulae (Cnidaria: Anthozoa)

Controlled experiments on the metamorphosis of marine invertebrate larvae require artificial inducers. These inducers can be used for studying the involvement of known signal transduction pathways in settlement and metamorphosis. The ability of the tumor-promoting phorbol ester TPA (12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate) to induce metamorphosis in planulae of the Red Sea soft coral speciesHeteroxenia fuscescens, Xenia umbellata, Dendronephthya hemprichii, Litophyton arboreum andParerythropodium fulvum fulvum, and the stony coralStylophora pistillata, was examined by using various concentrations of TPA. The chemical induced metamorphosis in all six species. The effect was unspecific and concentration-related. For all the corals except forX. umbellata the highest mean percentages of metamorphosis were obtained with 8.1×10^–7–10^–9 M TPA. ForX. umbellata, the percentage of metamorphosis was lower, and was obtained within a wider TPA concentration range. The present results, along with previous studies on Hydrozoa and Scyphozoa, demonstrate that TPA is the first common artificial inducer for these classes of Cnidaria. TPA is known to activate the enzyme protein kinase C (PKC) and therefore plays an important role in studying the phosphatidylinositol signal transduction system. Evidence for the involvement of this pathway in triggering metamorphosis has already been reported for Hydrozoa and Scyphozoa. Our results suggest that PKC is also involved in initiating metamorphosis in Anthozoa.     

Insulin receptors: Structure and function

Summary and conclusions The recent characterization of the human insulin receptor structure and its intrinsic tyrosine kinase activity represent major advances in our understanding of the mechanism of insulin action. It is reasonable to think that the insulin-induced autophosphorylation and activation of its receptor kinase represent an important event in the action of insulin on cell metabolism and growth. The fundamental research reviewed may be followed by the discovery of molecular receptor defects in clinical syndromes of insulin resistance.     

A pyruvate kinase variant in different mouse transplanted tumors

Summary Mouse transplanted tumors, in contrast to normal tissues, contain a pyruvate kinase (PK) variant sensitive to the inhibitory action of L-cysteine and less sensitive to saturated fatty acids than the normal enzyme. In selected normal and tumor materials two fractions of PK were separated. Fraction A (20–30% (NH₄)₂SO₄ saturation) dominated in normal liver, and fraction B (50–60% (NH₄)₂SO₄ saturation) in skeletal muscles and Ehrlich ascites tumor. Only this fraction B from tumor material was sensitive to L-cysteine, and seems to contain a tumor-specific PK variant which might be considered as a marker of neoplastic transformation in a broad spectrum of mouse experimental tumors.     

选择性BCR-ABL酪氨酸激酶抑制剂体外筛选体系的建立

BCR—ABL融合基因表达的肿瘤蛋白是慢性髓性白血病的主要致病因素，应用人BCR—ABL，基因转染的细胞株FD—rv 210与其祖代细胞FDC—P1细胞组成的配对细胞株和不同的培养条件，建立了一个BCR—ABL酪氨酸激酶抑制剂的体外筛选体系，用于检测BCR—ABL酪氨酸激酶抑制剂的选择性，发现两种BCR—ABL，酪氨酸激酶抑制剂AG957和AG490，对BCR—ABL阳性细胞和阴性细胞的增殖抑制作用相似；培养体系中有无祖代细胞增殖所需的细胞因子，对其增殖抑制作用无影响；AG957短时作用于细胞即发生不可逆的增殖抑制现象，与已知的选择性BCR—ABL酪氨酸激酶抑制剂STI571特性明显不同，提示这两种抑制剂作用呈非选择性，所建立的体外培养体系及不同的培养条件的组合，可用于筛选各种选择性的BCR—ABL酪氨酸激酶抑制剂。     

肺部感染时的体液免疫变化及其中西医结合治疗的免疫学评价

本文报告了68个肺部感染病例体液免疫指标——血清IgG、IgM、IgA和C_3的变化并选取其中26例分成两组(每组13例),使用两种不同的治疗方法(一组用中西医结合方法,另一组用单纯西医方法),比较两组治疗前后上述每种指标的变化,对所获数据进行统计学处理。结果表明。与正常人血清IgM、IgG、IgA和C_3相比,患有肺部感染的病人治疗前血清IgG明显降低,IgA明显上升,而IgM和C_3则无明显的变化。在治疗后,用中西医结合方法治疗的病人血清IgM比使用西医治疗病人的血清IgM明显高,在治疗前与正常人相比有明显升高的两组病人的IgA没有明显变化,IgG仍然很低,C_3亦仍无明显变化。     

MMA/HEA共聚物膜的制备及性能

采用溶液聚合法先制备甲基丙烯酸甲酯(MMA)和丙烯酸羟乙酯(HEA)的共聚物,然后通过溶剂蒸发沉淀制得了聚合物膜。用DSC和SEM对聚合物膜进行了表征,并测定了单体投料比与膜的力学性能之间的关系,用动态接触角研究了聚合物膜表面的亲水性,并对牛血清蛋白(BSA)进行了吸附研究。结果表明:当HEA的投料量wHEA=0.18~0.25时聚合物膜可达到医用膜的力学性能要求;HEA的引入提高了膜表面的亲水性,从而有利于提高膜的生理相容性,同时降低了膜对蛋白质的吸附,有利于提高膜的抗凝血性。     

Interaction of aloe-emodin with human serum albumin

The presence of several high affinity binding sites on human serum albumin (HSA) makes it a possible target for many drugs. This study is designed to examine the effect of aloe-emodin on HSA by fluo-rescence, CD spectroscopy and molecular modeling. The results of fluorescence measurements sug-gested that the hydrophobic interaction was the predominant intermolecular force stabilizing the AE-HSA complex, which was in good agreement with the result of molecular modeling study. And the enthalpy change ΔH0 and the entropy change ΔS0 were calculated to be -7.041 kJ·mol-1 and 76.619 J·mol-1·K-1 according to the Van't Hoff equation. The alterations of protein secondary structure in the presence of AE in aqueous solution were quantitatively calculated from CD spectra, and the content of α-helices obviously increased.     

重金属Hg^2＋对NBS修饰前后血清蛋白圆二色谱的影响

为了探明重金属Hg^2＋进入体内，对血清蛋白固有结构和功能的影响，我们用Hg^2＋对NBS修饰前后血清蛋白HSA和BSA进行处理，然后分析血清蛋白的圆二色谱特性，结果表明，近紫外区未修饰的HSA和BSA均具有典型的α螺旋构象；Hg^2＋处理或NBS修饰BSA溶液，均引起α-螺旋含量减少和三级结构构象的改变．Hg^2＋处理HSA，α-螺旋含量略有增加，构象也有变化．而NBS修饰导致α簇结构的严重破坏，蛋白构象无序化程度加深．修饰对BSA、HSA光谱特性的影响不同，可能与这两种蛋白的结构差异有关．